College football QB rankings: The most fascinating players to watch in our tiers

New York Times

18-07-2025

Putting together The Athletic's College QB Tiers illustrated that there is no shortage of fascinating quarterbacks and their situations across the country. Some of these players are worthy of deeper examinations than we were able to provide in our initial rankings.
So, after sorting through all 136 projected FBS starting quarterbacks, let's examine the most fascinating quarterback in each of our seven tiers. These quarterbacks range from high-profile names who are finally receiving their turn in the spotlight to high-profile returning starters to familiar names looking to re-establish themselves at new homes.
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Also, check out our rising quarterbacks to watch and the most difficult debates.
Ranking: 10th
Forget Tier 1, Manning is the most fascinating quarterback in college football. It's very easy to understand why expectations are so high. Duh, his last name is Manning. He's also a former five-star prospect who is a gifted athlete, and there aren't a lot of quarterbacks who can make throws like this:
Listen, Arch Manning wasn't perfect last week, and UTSA helped too, including a safety falling down on a TD.
But this throw? C'mon! pic.twitter.com/tfl2gQgBy1
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) September 19, 2024
However, it's reasonable to believe the hype train has gotten a little too wild for the betting favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. Manning played at a smaller private school in New Orleans, Isidore Newman, and didn't face very tough competition at the high school level.
He has thrown just 95 passes in two years at Texas and 75 percent of those throws have come against two Group of 5 schools (UTSA and ULM, which combined to go 12-13 last year) and Mississippi State, which went 2-10 and didn't win an SEC game in 2024.
And whenever there's a quarterback who has played as little as Manning has, there's naturally bound to be growing pains — perhaps starting with a Week 1 trip to defending national champion Ohio State.
Quinn Ewers was a five-star recruit who led Texas to a Big 12 championship, an SEC title game appearance and back-to-back trips to the College Football Playoff semifinals. Even though Manning has played little, the widely held assumption is that Texas is upgrading at the quarterback position. He's a significant reason why Texas has the best national title odds, according to BetMGM, and could be the preseason No. 1.
The discourse about Manning has become exhausting. As Manning said himself at SEC media days, he has to go onto the field and 'prove it.' We're just a few weeks away from starting to find out whether or not he can meet the hype.
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Ranking: 12th
A year ago, Beck would've checked in near the top of our rankings. Most expected him to be in the NFL at this time. However, he regressed on the field as Georgia lost its top playmakers from 2023 and then suffered an ugly elbow injury in the SEC Championship Game. Instead of declaring for the draft, he opted to stay in school. Georgia had already prepared for life after him at quarterback, so he entered the portal and landed at Miami, which rewarded him with an NIL deal worth more than $3 million.
The Hurricanes went 10-3 last season and are desperate to finally break through and reach the College Football Playoffs under coach Mario Cristobal. Beck is desperate to improve his draft stock after a disappointing season, so there's urgency on both sides here.
Coaches and staff members we spoke to acknowledge the high-level flashes Beck has shown, but they also point out his limited mobility and the mistakes and turnovers he needs to clean up. Some also weren't fans of Beck's off-field headlines, including his relationship and breakup with former college basketball player/prominent influencer Hanna Cavinder, as well as his decision to purchase a high-priced Lamborghini, which was stolen this spring.
Beck went 24-3 as Georgia's starting quarterback. He's won at a high clip, but it's reasonable to be concerned about the elbow surgery and the short window of time he has to build a rapport with a new set of receivers after missing spring practices due to the injury, while also learning a new offense.
Beck and Miami both failed to achieve their ultimate goals in 2024. Will their marriage help them reach their desired outcome in 2025, or will it be more disappointment for both this season?
Ranking: 27th
Texas Tech will be one of the most polarizing teams in the country this season. The Red Raiders spent a lot of money to upgrade their roster through the transfer portal this offseason to establish themselves as a front-runner in a wide-open Big 12.
There will be those who will appreciate a non-traditional power trying to better itself and do everything possible to make a run for a CFP bid. Some will view the offseason spending as a desperate play from a program trying to buy a conference championship.
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What can't be argued is that the spending places significant pressure on several key figures within Texas Tech's program, including head coach Joey McGuire. For all the money the Red Raiders spent, one position they did not address was quarterback.
Morton posted solid numbers last season: 3,335 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing 63.3 percent of his passes. Morton isn't viewed as a top-five QB in the Big 12 (he's eighth in the conference in our rankings). Still, with the improved roster, expectations are much higher this year — winning the Big 12 for the first time at a program that has never finished ranked in the top 10, which puts a lot of pressure on Morton to deliver for a program and fan base that is now striving for more.
Rank: 38th
There's an element of mystery with Pribula. He rushed the ball 94 times and attempted 56 passes across the past two years at Penn State, which mainly utilized Pribula as a gadget player behind Drew Allar (No. 6 in our tiers) last year. We haven't seen much of him in extended action outside of a stellar performance in relief of the injured Allar at Wisconsin last October.
However, a head coach and a general manager at separate programs both told The Athletic that Pribula would have been their No. 1 QB target in the transfer portal if the circumstances had lined up right. The GM was high on Pribula's toughness and competitiveness. The skill set was good enough for Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz, who has a proven track record of working well with quarterbacks. Even though Pribula is relatively unknown, there were plenty of programs willing to take a chance on him.
Rank: 69th
Rebels coach Dan Mullen almost always gets the most out of his quarterbacks, no matter how flawed they may be. Next up on his list: Colandrea, who threw 26 touchdown passes and 20 interceptions in two seasons as Virginia's starter before transferring to UNLV this offseason.
There is plenty of entertainment in the carefree scrambling and erratic play of Colandrea. Still, if UNLV is going to maintain the same sort of success it achieved under former coach Barry Odom and remain one of the best G5 teams, then Mullen will have to tame some of the wild play from Colandrea. If it doesn't work out, Michigan transfer Alex Orji is an intriguing backup option.
At the very least, this situation won't provide the same sort of drama UNLV's most recent transfer quarterback, Matthew Sluka, did last season when he left the program (before landing at James Madison this offseason) amid a 3-0 start because of a dispute about an NIL agreement.
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Rank: 108th
The Cougars were essentially thrust into the wilderness due to conference realignment and were left to help remake the Pac-12, along with Oregon State. Despite the less-than-ideal circumstances, Washington State has lived a good life at quarterback, going from Cam Ward (who became the No. 1 pick at Miami) to John Mateer (who transferred to Oklahoma this offseason).
Now it'll be Eckhaus' turn to show what he can do. Eckhaus was an FCS standout at Bryant in 2023 and passed for 363 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for a score in a Holiday Bowl start last season.
Eckhaus has the chance to be very productive. Still, he's going to be working with a new coaching staff led by Jimmy Rogers, who became Washington State's head coach this offseason after two seasons and an FCS national championship at South Dakota State.
Rogers is likely to bring a more balanced offensive system, which Eckhaus and the fan base will have to adjust to. Washington State is a program that has often punched above its weight class, and it has achieved most of that success with pass-heavy, air-raid offenses.
The Cougars are an interesting, plucky underdog. This is the last year of the unofficial Pac-2, and they'll be playing an independent-like schedule before the conference adds the likes of Boise State, San Diego State and others next year. Washington State has exceeded expectations, even though it was left for dead, and now it'll start over with Rogers, who has turned over the roster and brought several South Dakota State transfers with him. Eckhaus will be key to ensuring the program stays afloat in Rogers' first year.
Rank: 113th
Howard was a top-50 prospect and the fifth-ranked quarterback during the 2022 recruiting cycle, but he hasn't received much playing time in three seasons across two schools (LSU and Ole Miss) with just 10 career pass attempts. Howard, a Lafayette, La., native, dropped to the G5 to find a place to play and transferred home to Louisiana. The Ragin' Cajuns are coming off a 10-win season and a Sun Belt title game appearance, so expectations are high.
They'll provide Howard with an opportunity to showcase his skill set and talent, finally, but it'll come with the pressure of delivering some team success, too.
(Top photos of Arch Manning and Behren Morton: Tim Warner, Christian Petersen / Getty Images)